Artist Profile\\ Alexandro Pelaez: The Start of the Magic in Photography

Category:

Review

Country:

United Kingdom

City:

London

The Caracas-born analogue photographer Alexandro Pelaez commences from the starting point of Magic Realism, the magic of the daily, to rediscover other realities that we miss on our day-to-day journeys. Alexandro's areas of experimentation can be grouped into four: several metre large scale cityscapes; medium sized street environments; moving image with the use of those images; and the landscapes' details displayed in the intimacy of A6 size.

Alexandro applies the technique of analogue double exposure sharing two images into one in the same shoot creating a dreamlike experience. Easier said than made, because the photographer needs to quickly locate key elements of the two pictures at once to create balance and harmony. A technique learned by many hours of practising and the possession of a special talent.

The several metre large scale cityscapes are, perhaps, his most ambitious project to-day. Bigger than human size, the viewer is immersed in an installation-like encounter and colours and shapes and forms become animated. The city transforms itself into a gigantic animal only for the fearless.

Eclectic, his series of Street Environments, tend to be presented in medium size, 60x84 cm, and movement and the energy of the passers by becomes the focus point. Each city has its own distinctive pace. He has visited cities an all continents and describe the ones below as following:

London, as energetic;

Hong Kong, as chaotic;

Seoul, as trendy;

San Francisco, as vibrant;

Rome, as eternal.

His third area of experimentation, and the newest one, is the moving image. It reminds me of the antique postcards produced in the Victorian era and nostalgia, the good old days, monopolises the viewer's imagination. Like watching slides through a stereoscope which became popular in the 60s during the mass-tourism explosion.

The final and fourth group, the landscapes' details, is his most intimate imagery presented in A6 size, 10.5x14.8cm. Referencing the Pre-Raphaelites, Alexandro invites us to delve into the countryside. A day trip back to our recollections, to what remains and to what it is left behind. Elements, circumstances, colours; an array of miscellanea that shape what we call memory. A human quality as ephemeral as ever-changing.

Mara Alves, Mayfair Contemporary Art Curator, comments: "When living within the digital and visual era, one can assume that capturing an image can be easily achieved by the reach of a click. It's not! Just like any other medium, photography takes mastery and hours of work in pursuit of the perfect image. I have been working closely with Alexandro Pelaez for two years, and his work never ceases to amaze me with its constructivism, taking us to a realm of magic and futurism. One can see through what is real in his pictures, with a perfect balance of colours, shapes and symmetries but doubled with new layers of perspectives and appearances that will sharpen our imagination and take us to a new level of beauty and visionary abstractions. By using a traditional medium of double exposure with film, the outcome is not only appealing but exquisite."

Alexandro is currently working with Mara to organise a solo show during Frieze Week next October 2019 in central London.

BACKGROUND

Alexandro graduated with a BA in Communication (Advertising) at Jacksonville University in Florida, and was headhunted as as an art director in the advertising agency BVK Meka in Miami.

Having moved to London in 2001, where he completed his second BA (Hons) in Graphic at Central Saint Martins University of the Arts London, Alexandro has worked over the years on various photography projects with different clients in the UK, Latvia, Germany, Italy, France, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Shanghai and USA. In 2003, Alexandro decided photography was his real passion and founded his studio in Chelsea where he does most of his Portraits. He started as a Sports Photographer (Football and Rugby) with the Daily Mail in 2005 until 2008 and then as first assistant and Art Director/Second Photographer for fashion photographer Tony McGee.

In 2014 Alexandro received the Highly Commended Award by the London Photographic Association for his "HEROES & VILLAINS". In 2017 Alexandro was the finalist with the "Londoners" series at the ACCI "Art of Living" Photography Competition in California, and won three Honourable Mentions by International Photographer of the Year for both categories of Fine Art: Conceptual and People: Portrait; and by Density Neutral Photography Awards for the category Fine Art: Conceptual. Recently, Alexandro received an Honourable Mention by IPA International Photo Awards (2018) in New York for the category: Special, Other; also won the Silver Medal Award with San Francisco Bay International Photo Show (2018), and the Finalist Award by the Fine Art Photography Awards (2018) for both categories of People and Street Photography. Alexandro latest participation was at the Photography Collective Show at MIAMI ART BASEL in December 2018 for the Parallel Exhibitions at the Miami Art Center with MIArt Space, where he exhibited his latest project of Street Photography, a series of double exposure photographs taken with his 35mm camera.